Smuggled foreign cigarettes worth Rs 7 cr seized in Chennai

Indonesian cigarettes, smuggled illegally into India, worth Rs seven crore were seized from a shipping container in Chennai on Thursday.

The seizure was made when Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths, on a tip-off, carried out the search of a container at a yard in New Manali near Chennai. It had been sent by a Singapore-based private firm to a local importer.

The container had come from Singapore and was moved into the city, officials said. It had 700 cartons containing 70 lakh cigarettes with markings ‘Djarum Black’ and being smuggled, officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said.